The first bank on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation opened in June in Lame Deer. Previously, reservation residents had to travel about 20 miles off the reservation to the nearest bank.
First Interstate Bank has worked with Native Action, a nonprofit organization on the reservation, and other tribal representatives for the past 10 years to bring financial services to the 6,000 reservation residents. Native Action worked with the bank's holding company, First Interstate BancSystem, based in Billings, to revise legal codes which allows the bank to operate within the reservation's legal system.
First Interstate's branch is one of only a handful of Montana banks located on a reservation.
